UMBC

Baltimore, MD—Reigning America East Conference Player of the Year Taylor Coppenrath scored 30 points, as defending league champion Vermont (5-5, 2-0 AEC) held off conference newcomer UMBC (4-7, 1-1 AEC), 67-66, in the home debut of the Retrievers in the league.

Coppenrath, a 6’9” junior forward, tallied 15 points in the first half, but sat the final seven minutes of the half with two fouls, as the Retrievers took a 36-31 halftime lead. But the Catamounts outscored UMBC, 10-1, to open the second half, and grabbed a 41-38 advantage with 15:52 to play. UMBC senior guard Kareem Washington, who would score a season high 24 points, gave UMBC its last lead, hitting a three-pointer to put the hosts in front, 50-49 at the 10:10 mark. But three-pointers by T.J. Sorrentine and Alex Jensen and a pair of layups by Coppenrath sparked a 12-2 run which gave Vermont a 61-52 advantage with 4:24 remaining.

Washington, who hit a career best six three-point goals, tried to bring the Retrievers back, hitting a layup and a three-point goal on successive possessions to trim the gap to 64-61 with 1:06 to play. Coppenrath rebounded his own miss on the next possession and Sorrentine sunk a pair of free throws with 19 seconds left to extend the lead to 66-61. UMBC’s Cory McJimson hit a quick layup, and Coppenrath responded with one of two free throws to give Vermont a four-point advantage, before Washington’s 28-footer with 1.7 seconds left cut the lead to 67-66. Retriever John Zito picked off the Catamount’s three-quarter court pass, but his desperation shot was partially blocked by Germain Njila and fell well short.

Coppenrath his 13 of 22 shots from the floor and led the Catamounts with 7 rebounds. Sorrentine, also a pre-season All League selection at guard, was the other Vermont player in double figures with 15 points. Washington has scored 42 points in UMBC’s two league games in the past 72 hours, after scoring 74 points in UMBC’s first nine games.  Sophomore forward John Zito added 14 points, and McJimson a team-high 6 rebounds. Junior guard Rob Gogerty dished out 9 assists for UMBC in 40 minutes of action.

Vermont hit 52.2% from the floor, while UMBC was just under the 50% mark, hitting 25 of 52 shots (48.1%).